Thariel hummed a wistful tune as she traveled between the trees. Her spear was tightly bound behind her and her satchel hung along her sides, she had a tool belt around her waist and a smile on her face.

That last one was a cover up to the discomfort she felt from her newly improved senses.

Since she left shortly after awakening her bloodline, she never had the time to work on that aspect of her change and because of that, she felt uncomfortable.

Even the sense of vague familiarity and safety she felt under the shade of trees didn't feel right.

Her instinct as a Vampire told her that staying in the forest was a good thing, that danger would have a hard time finding her here in the thickets.

How did she know that?

She didn't technically, she just had her guard down because her animalistic instincts felt more comfortable inside a forest, her more human rationale however thought different.

Sure, she can hide behind the trees and divert her presence by blocking the line of sight of any would-be predator but how would any of that matter when faced with the sheer strength some of the monsters possessed?

And not only that, she wasn't the only one with sharp senses here. A lot of creatures, including insects, have just as if not better senses than her.

Ultimately, her divided thoughts resulted in a war torn between feeling safe and being vigilant, which in turn led to her feeling uncomfortable.

Thariel eventually decided to just focus on her tasks, like figuring out which way to go. She hoped that a distraction was enough to put her mind at ease.

- But she just stupidly concluded that she can just pick a random direction knowing that the abandoned road she's looking for encompasses the entire forest anyways.

So refocusing on something else was completely pointless...

Now back to feeling discomfort, the Damphir scanned the dark spots behind the ever shifting treeline with suspicious eyes. She felt like someone was watching her but couldn't put a finger as to what or where they are.

Wait was that?!-

Thariel blinked. Huh, was her paranoia causing her to see human silhouettes in the shadows now?

She soon stumbled upon the road, a neat little distraction that ultimately helped clear her mind by giving her thoughts something to distract herself with.

Choosing to no longer wallow in her paranoia, Thariel put her mental processes into thinking about the history and background of the gravel road. Whose simplistic look betrayed the magic that was used to build and sustain it over the past centuries.

But despite its history of being made by a once thriving ancient civilization, the road has long since been weathered down by the natural forces of rain and time, it's enchantments washed away under the torrential downpour over the course of the passing centuries.

Along the path, pieces of gravel have gone loose, been removed, or broken down. Leaving behind an empty pothole on the spot they once occupied.

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Thariel learned that like holes to a slice of cheese, gaps like these were commonplace.

After another twenty minutes of walking, the feeling of traversing an ancient ruin lost its luxury and Thariel treated it like any other path. Thankfully, she didn't have to deal with anymore discomfort during this.

Thariel followed the road until she reached a fork in the path, there were three directions she can pick now with two continuing as gravel and the last being dirt.

Thariel chose the last one.

She gazed at the road before her, it looked simple. Recent.

A stray dirt path without any similarity to the gravel road she has been following until now.

It didn't have the same ruined as the gravel road feeling despite the myriad of bushes littering the unmaintained earth nor did it give off the sense that it had once been built by an ancient civilization lost to time.

She dodged a bush looking to scrape her leg.

The story behind the dirt road wasn't any lesser than the ancient gravel road however, as this was made and utilized by The Loveless King. A man who due to his obsession with the maiden of the spring, lost everything trying to helplessly gain her love.

The lore tidbit she got from Tainted Orchids about the myth wasn't a lot but it was enough to put context to what happened; The King, having fallen in love with the maiden, did everything and anything trying to make her feel the same way as him.

Then one fateful night, when he no longer had anything to his name, the king lost his rationale and killed her.

What followed was the man becoming ridden with guilt after seeing the dead maiden and taking his own life.

It was a simple tragedy that followed the typical myth template which can be found thoughout human history.

The reason for why it was in Tainted Orchids is because it served as an explanation for the existence of Amori Falls. The story helped contextualized its existence and why the hidden area had so many important items.

By the time canon starts; Amori Falls was the only remnant of this forest that was left behind.

The Ytallotiks never bothered to terraform the waterfall and its surrounding area into their preferred environment for some reason.

And there's a theory that why this happened is because of the item hidden within the waterfall- The Necklace of Ail was said to be made by an ancient goddess, which she then gifted to her daughter, a river nymph.

And it was the necklace's cleansing capabilities which deterred the Ytallotiks from ever trying to terraform the waterfall.

Besides the fact that it has cleansing properties, the necklace can also store water. Lorewise, this function should have allowed the otherwise water bound nymph to walk on land.

"Halt!" A voice suddenly called out, "you're trespassing into Crawlfish Tribe territory! Who are you?!"

Thariel focused on the present and saw that a Kobold now stood in front of her, blocking her from advancing any further with the tip of its spear.

Given Tainted Orchid's japanese origins, the fantasy monster in front of her wasn't a reptilian dragonoid like in most fantasy media but instead is a short humanoid with dog-like features.

It had a snout, a coat of brown fur, two floppy ears drooping from the sides of its head, and is currently glaring at her with a pair of heterochromatic eyes.

She didn't think it can hurt her honestly.

Also, it was so cute! She always liked these talking furballs back in the game!

Thariel used all of her willpower to resist the urge to pet its head. But the fact that it was pointinglessly aiming a spear at her is just so gosh darn cute she can't!-

Thariel cleared her throat, "hello," she greeted the Kobold, "do you know the way to the silken crown?"

"The silken crown?" The creature's brief confusion upon hearing her words would have been its downfall if this truly was a fight. Too bad she couldn't tackle and begin cuddling it...

The Kobold snapped back to glaring at her, "why would you want to go there?"

"I'm glad you asked," Thariel took off her hood. She smiled when she saw the Kobold's first reaction to seeing a Damphir was to shake in fear.

"You're one of them," the canine said in dawning horror.

"One of them?" Thariel tilted her head. Were there Vampires in this forest? She didn't know that.

"Don't play dumb!" The Kobold regained its composure and followed it up with a spike of anger. It stepped forward with its spear raised towards Thariel's throat.

Cute!

"I really don't know what you're talking about," Thariel replied honestly.

"Wha-" the Kobold flashed its teeth with a sharp growl, "you dare pretend I don't know what you are?!"

"A Damphir?" Thariel pointed at herself.

"Yes!" The Kobold exclaimed, "which means you're part of their brood!"

Again, it was implying that there was a Vampire brood nestled somewhere around here, weird considering that she's never heard of it before.

Well maybe she has?

... Yeah, she did. Her mother mentioned it while talking about the Silken Crown. She just forgot.

It was unfortunate that she didn't know any of the names of the Vampires her father ruled over.

"Well, I guess I am," Thariel said, "I'm the daughter of the count actually,"

Was that good enough? Also, the brood wouldn't hunt her down just because she did this right?

Thariel felt the Kobold's blood rush out of its face as it went pale. It was like her perception of it turned from a blood sack into a useless pound of meat, she could also feel the sudden lack of heat in its breath.

Thariel focused on the conversation at hand, she really didn't feel like learning more about her senses right now, "shouldn't you be, you know, saying that I was lying?"

"W-why would you lie?" The Kobold said, its tone shaken by fear.

"I..." Thariel decided to play along, "right, I guess I don't have a reason to lie now do I?"

The Damphir smiled, "so do you know where the silken crown is?" The Kobold nodded, "great! Lead me to it. Oh, and tell me where the Amori Falls are on the way there,"

"I don't know where the water fall is,"

Thariel paused, wait really? Wasn't the falls literally falling from a giant cliffside? Wait no, it was inside the excavated roots of a giant stone tree.

"Do you know anyone who does?" Thariel stared the Kobold down.

"Y-yes," it replied with a shaky nod, "there's a shaman in our tribe who goes there to pray once a year,"

"Great! Lead me to it then!" Thariel began walking. Seconds later, the stuttering Kobold behind her decided to follow.